Tuesday, September 8, 2009

In Memory of Bela Lugosi! Carpe Nocturne!

That is one hot alpha vamp!

I'm getting really excited about what I call "my season". When the leaves begin to fall and the nights turn colder, I get an itch to cook a giant pot of chili...do I sound like a witch or what? I watch old scary movies, build a fire, decorate my house with jack o'lanterns and fake spider webs. My kids love it! Besides, Halloween is the busiest time for a paranormal author. I'm kind of in hibernation all year and all of the sudden, I have book signings at local book stores, coffee shops, wine shops. I participate in the annual Buns and Roses Tea every October. We raise money for literacy and have tea with the coolest readers!

Last night I kicked off the start of "my season" by watching the one and only Bela Lugosi in Dracula. What a fantastic actor! Today I'm dedicating my blog to the memory of this fascinating artist.

I did a bit of research on Bela. He was born in 1882 in Lugos, Hungary, not far from Transylvania. How perfect! His name came from this town. Bela was a master actor, perfecting the role of Dracula on the stage as a theatre actor before he was cast in the role of Dracula because Lon Chaney died, Universal's first choice for the role. Because Bela did such an amazing job playing the part of Dracula, he was type cast and unable to obtain any starring roles unless they were for horror films.

Most difficult for me to believe is that Bela was not paid very well for his roles. He even declared bankruptcy and lost his Hollywood home, but look at how much he has given us all. An unforgettable image of Dracula. Before the 1931 film, Dracula, most people had not read the book and did not know vampires turned to bats. Did you know that Bela also turned into a wolf in the film? People had no idea that a crucifix repels a vampire. Bela showed us that vamps have no reflection in a mirror and only walk at night. All of these characteristics were brought to light with such grace and power. No wonder Dracula is still the scariest, most revered monster of all. Bela IS Dracula.

Watching old classics is a great exercise for writers. We can go back to the beginning and watch the old fables unfold, remember things we have forgotten about the legends. There are a few I saw that I won't share here. You'll have to go watch it yourself. The audience never saw Bela bite a neck. There was no blood and gore, yet when he bends over one of his victims and the screen fades away, I'm more scared than ever.

Go check out Bela's official website. His family has created it and it's worth a look see. Read the bio written by Bela Lugosi, Jr. and you'll probably cry right along with me when you read that he buried his dad in one of his Dracula capes.

Don't forget to check out my charity book for children, Tennessee. 100% of proceeds go to gifting books to the Children of our Fallen Warriors at Snowball Express in December. Visit Tennessee's website at http://tennesseethetherapycat.weebly.com!